ehrlich



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1.

P. E. P. .EHRLIOH.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. F. E. P. EHRLIGH.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INsTRUMENT.

No. 385,903. Patented Feb. 9, 1886.

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRIEDRICH ERNST PAUL EHRLICH, OF GOHLIS, NEAR LEIPSIG, SAXONY, GERMANY.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SFECIE'ICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 335,903, dated February 9, 1886.

Application filed July 11, 1885. Serial No. 171,283. (No model.) Patented in France December 11, 1884. No. 165.879.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LFRIEDRIOH ERNST PAUL EHRLIOH, a subject of the King of Saxony, and residing at G0hlis,near Leipsic,Kingdom of Saxony, have invented new and useful Improvements in MeehanicallyActuated Pianos, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in France December 11, 1884, No. 165,879), of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to musical instruments in which the notes are produced by the percussion of hammers of piano actions against strings or other sounding bodies; and it con sists in the mechanism employed for actuating such hammers according to the indications of music sheets or cylinders provided with perforations or projections corresponding to the notes of a melody.

On the annexed two sheets of drawings are shown two different arrangements for carrying out my invention.

In the arrangement Figure 1 the piano action or mechanism comprises as main parts the hammer q, the jack or hopper g, and a lever, q", to an arm of which the latter is pivoted. The means for causing the said parts and the mechanism to be described to act in accordance with the notes of a melody consist in the perforated endless music-sheet a, running over two rollers, 12 and c, and the leverf, which is pressed by the springf with its beak against the music-sheet, the said beak dropping into a the perforations registering therewith as they pass along under the beak. The roller 1) is put in motion by the crank (l and worm-wheel gearing.

g is a roller for supporting the sheet a op posite to the beaks of the row of leversf.

For operating the hammer a spring, is placed under the lever q". The said spring is kept in a state of compression and the lever g in the position of rest by means of a bar, on, or lockingbar pivoted to g, and provided with a spring, a, and which catches with a projecting part or heel ,m,under an edge of the frame part or beam at. Opposite to the heel m, beingin normal position, there is a bar, Z, pivoted to the lower end of the lever f,so that when the beak off drops into a perforation of the sheet a the bar Z pushes the heel m out of engagement with the beam a. The lever 11 and the spring 1) are thereby released,in consequence whereof the latter will act,through q and the jack g, on the hammer, and impel the same against the string 1'. After each stroke of the hammer the said parts are returned to their position of rest, and the springp is recompressed by a cam-disk,e, rotated by means of the crank (Z and bevel-wheel gearing, the said cam-disk operating against a bar, j,jointed to the lever Q2, and maintained in normal position by a spring, 70, and astop, j, on the lever. With the lower end of the barj is in engagement the heel h of the bar h pivoted to the leverf. \Vhen under these conditions theleverf, being opposite to a hole in the sheet a, is oscillated by its spring f, thebarj is first moved out ofreaeh of the cam-disk by the bar h in order that there may be no impediment to the upward motion of the lever g'-,with its attachments; but while this motion takes place the barj disengages from the heel h, and is then pressed by its spring is against the cam-disk 6, so that one of the cams may, in acting against the end of j, return the lever g and parts attached thereto to their position of rest, as already stated. This position is then secured until renewed action of theleverf, by the bar m again catching with its heel m under the edge of the beam n. In order that it may do so even while the bar Z is not yet drawn back, this bar is fitted with a knob, 12, sliding on an inclined surface of the beam or, so that whenZ is pushed forward to release the bar at it will at the same time be shifted far enough down to be out of the way of the heel m returning to its locking position. XVhen, finally, at the end of a note,the lever f resumes its normal position, the heel h of the bar h, beveled on its upper surface, slides along under the end of the bar j and re-engages therewith. All parts are then ready for renewed action.

sis a wire carried by the bar Z, and having at its end aknob for actuating the damper-levert.

Although for every note a complete mechanism, such as described, is required, the camdisks e need not be separate from each other, and may form together a cam-cylinder.

Instead of the perforated endless music-sheet shown in the drawings, a music-sheet of any I00 other character, or a cylinder having studs for operating the lever f, may be employed, this part of the mechanism not being comprised in my invention.

The piano-action represented by Fig. 2 is alike to the one described,and it is disengaged in similar manner by the lever f pressing, through the medium of the bar 1, against the locking-bar m. The mechanism for returning the parts to their position of rest and recompressing the spring 10 is, however, somewhat different. The same consists in a verticallyreciprocating bar, 1', having at its upper end a shoulder or projection, 6 by means of which it engages with the heel m of the locking-bar m. All the bars 11 of the instrument are pivotaily attached to a frame formed by the bar a and levers t',the said frame being drawn upward by a spring or springs, 19, and alternately depressed and allowed to rise by rotating camdisks 0, acting against rollers 2, carried by arms on the levers 73. Each bar t" is pressed bya spring, b, toward the locking-bar m, and its projecting part P, as well as the heel m of bar m, are beveled, so that in rising t may slide away over m". On the dampenactuating wire 8, which passes through a slit in the bar i, a collar, 8, is screwed, adapted to act against the said bar.

Vhen the lever f is oscillated by its beak dropping into a perforation of the sheet a,the collars first pushes the bar 73 out of engagement with the heel m of bar m, and thereupon bar l,in acting against m, releases-the hammer mechanism. On returning to its normalposition the lever f draws Z, s, and 8' back, so that the bar 2'', having arrived at its upper end of its stroke, will engage by its projection t with the heel m? of bar m. The bar 'i being then drawn down by the operation of the cam-disks e on the frame a i, draws with it the bar m, which is finally brought in re-engagement with the beam n by the spring a.

I claim as my invention-'- 1. The combination,with a piano-action, of aspring, p, a locking-bar, m, with heel m, a lever, f, operated by a music-sheet or its described equivalent, whereby said lever by its oscillation in one direction disengages the locking-bar, and a rot-ative cam-disk, e, and mechanism operated thereby to return the piano-action to its position of rest, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with a piano-action actuated by a spring, 10, of a locking-bar, m,

having the heels m and m", a lever, f, operated by a music-sheet or its described equivalent, and carrying the disengaging-bar l and collar 8, and a bar, 6, with projection i, pivoted to an oscillating frame, a t, operated by a cam or cams, e, and a spring or springs, 19, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereofIhave signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

FRIEDRICH ERNST PAUL EHR-LIOH.

Witnesses:

ERNST SoHMUN'rzsci-i, OsMUND RIOTTOR.

intermediate devices 

